1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk brake for wheels of vehicles and especially for motorcycle wheels, designed to solve some important problems connected with the braking of such vehicles. It is known that in some vehicles, typically in motorcycles, the application of disk brakes has met so far with only limited success -- in spite of the felt need to replace (especially in large motorcycles) the drum brakes by more modern and efficient brakes -- due to some problems not easy to solve. In particular, a serious difficulty was represented by the rational placement of the disk, usually arranged to the side of the wheel with the respective calipers, with consequent weight unbalances in the case of motorcycles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to obtain a rational solution of this important problem, it has already been suggested: to embody the brake disk in the hub of the vehicle wheel (particularly a motorcycle wheel), attributing directly to said disk, or to the elements designed for the support thereof, also functions of connection between the actual hub and its flange or crown for attachment of the wheel spokes; to arrange said disk centred on the symmetry plane of the wheel and of the hub, perpendicular to the wheel axis; and to act on the disk itself with friction pads, carried by support plates, mounted on the wheel axis and applying their own reactions to the disk.
However, the simple versions of said solution, which have been studied and experimented with so far, have not allowed one to realize acceptable practical results particularly due to the structural problems that have arisen.